Mishnah 9 in the first chapter of Sotah continues with the theme of 'measure for measure', except that here the Mishnah moves from the side of punishment to the positive side - to reward. Until now we have dealt with the principle that a person is measured by the measure he himself uses, and now the Mishnah teaches that this very same rule applies for the good as well, and in a way in which the reward is incomparably greater than the deed.
"V'chen l'inyan hatovah" - and so too with regard to the good:
"Miriam himtinah l'Moshe sha'ah achas" - Miriam waited for her brother at the time he was placed in the basket of reeds, as the verse says: "Vatetatzav achoso merachok" - his sister stood and watched from a distance. This was a wait of one hour only, a brief span of time.
Even so, as a reward for this a miracle was done and all of Israel waited for her seven days in the wilderness when she was stricken with tzara'as, as it says: "V'ha'am lo nasa ad he'asef Miriam" - until Miriam was gathered in and returned to the camp after she had been stricken. One hour of waiting on her part, and seven days of waiting on the part of all Israel.
The chain of honor - from Yosef to the Holy One, blessed is He:
"Yosef zachah likbor es aviv" - Yosef merited to bury his father Yaakov, "v'ein b'echav gadol mimenu" - none of his brothers was greater than he in terms of royalty, for he was viceroy of Egypt. As it says: "Vaya'al Yosef likbor es aviv", Yosef went up to the land of Canaan to bury his father, "vaya'al imo gam rechev v'gam parashim" - chariots and horsemen went up with him, and in this way he gave his father great honor.
"Mi lanu gadol mi'Yosef?" - who merited greater honor than Yosef? "Shelo nis'asek bo ela Moshe" - the only one who attended to him was Moshe. "Moshe zachah b'atzmos Yosef" - Moshe Rabbeinu himself took Yosef's bones and brought them out of Egypt, "v'ein b'Yisrael gadol mimenu" - there was no one in Israel greater than Moshe, as it says: "Vayikach Moshe es atzmos Yosef imo".
"Mi gadol mi'Moshe?" - who merited greater honor than Moshe? "Shelo nis'asek bo ela HaKadosh Baruch Hu" - when Moshe passed away, none other than the Holy One, blessed is He, attended to him in His own glory, as it says: "Vayikbor oso ba'gai". The Holy One, blessed is He, Himself gave him this honor.
The Mishnah goes on to teach that it was not said of Moshe alone that the Holy One, blessed is He, buried him, but of all the righteous - all the righteous are cared for in a certain way by the Holy One, blessed is He, as it says: "V'halach l'fanecha tzidkecha, kevod Hashem ye'asfecha" - your righteousness will go before you and the glory of Hashem will gather you in. The righteous as a whole are buried and cared for by the Holy One, blessed is He, if not in a physical way, then in a spiritual one.
In summary: in this Mishnah we learned that the rule of 'measure for measure' applies to the good as well, and in an unequal measure: one hour of waiting on Miriam's part was repaid with seven days of waiting by all of Israel. We then examined the chain of honor presented in the Mishnah - Yosef who buried Yaakov, Moshe who attended to Yosef's bones, and the Holy One, blessed is He, who attended to Moshe's burial - and we learned that this honor is not Moshe's alone, but that all the righteous are gathered in by the glory of Hashem.